Geoege a



(No Model.)

G. A. GOWLES.

SOLE. No. 476,448. Patented June 7, 1892.

W/TNESSES. INVE/VTUH 6 2752; d4 AW @f' ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. COWLES, OF ROCHESTER, NEW? YORK.

SOLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 476,448, dated June '7, 1892.

Application filed June 8. 1891. Serial No. 395,529. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. CowLEs, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented a new and use ful Improvement. in Marks to DesignateShoes, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings.

My invention is a low shoe or rubber provided with characters or plates formed of mechanical parts and applied to the shoe in a peculiar manner. The characters and plates are secured to the sole of the rubber or shoe under the instep and at a place where the sole does not ordinarily come in contact with the ground while the rubber is worn, so that the fastenings of the parts shall not be worn away by use. At hotels and other places where people temporarily assemble the rubbers and overshoes worn by them, after being removed from the feet, are usually thrown promiscuously together, frequently in a basket or other convenient receptacle, and it commonly occurs that in resuming the use of these foot-coverings the owners have difficulty in selecting from the lot their own rubbers or shoes on account of the similarity in appearance of all. As a result of this state of things people are apt to get on the wrong rubbers-as, for instance, rubbers of two different pairs orotherwise-which circumstance leads to great inconvenience and annoyance, particularly to persons making haste to board a railroad-train or who are otherwise pressed for time. It is to overcome this difficulty and annoyance and to enable each person to be able to select his own property with facility and certainty that I have made my herein-described invention, the same being hereinafter fully specified, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of the interior of a rubber shoe with the attached parts in place. Fig. 2 is a bottom view of a shoe, showing the bottom plate provided with distinguishing characters; and Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the parts shown, A is arubber or other shoe substantially of common kind, B being the sole.

a are letters or characters, which may be the initials of the name of the owner of the shoes or otherwise, secured to the sole in front of the heel and under the instep, these letters or characters appearing in the interior of the shoe. These characters are formed of material different from that of which the shoe is formed and provided with tangs Z).

In Fig. 2 a plate 0 is shown on the side of the sole opposite the letters a, which plate is preferably formed with openings (Z, shaped like letters or otherwise to suit the convenience of the wearer of the rubbers. These letters a and plates are preferably made of white metal or sheet metal nickel-plated or of some shade or color contrasting with the color of the shoes, so to catch the eye and be readily seen.

6 shows a thin black plate of metal or other substance, upon which the contrasting white letters a are mounted, so the latter may be more readily distinguished. The letters are secured directly to this plate 6 by means of short tang-s, as shown in Fig. 3. This plate (2 is used in combination with the plate 0, and I prefer to employ pinsf, piercing the plates at their respective ends and being headed down thereon, as shown in Fig. 3. Being attached to the raised part of the sole, as appears in Figs. 1 and 2, that does not ordinarily come in contact with the ground while walking, these letters or plates are not subjected to wear, and the fastenings thereof are likewise protected from wear, on account of which the parts are not liable to becomeloosened from the shoe.

\Vhen the plate 0 is employed with the letters and opposite them, the shoe may be readily distinguished, whether the inside or the bottom of the same be presented to view.

What I claim as my invention is The herein-described identification-tag, consisting of a plate adapted to be secured to one side of the sole of a shoe and a similar plate to be attached to the opposite side of the sole, a series of letters or characters upon one of the plates and provided with attaching-prongs, said letters being of a contrasting color to the plate and the prongs being passed through the plate and secured, and means for securing the plates to the sole, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 1st day of June, 1891, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE A. COWLES.

Witnesses:

Enos B. WHITMORE, M. L. lWIoDERMoTr. 

